In view of today's digitalization of the telecommunications technology, so that—referring to a telephone network by way of example—call switching between two call parties is usually implemented digitally and on the basis of software. Such software is often not only able to establish a connection between two communication parties, but possibly provide other services as well, such as automatic announcements and the receiving of messages, for instance in the case of network-internal answering machines.
With available methods, corresponding software for organizing and/or implementing switching operations or services, for example, is running in an individual switching center of a telecommunications network, it being possible for a telecommunications network of a network provider to have a plurality of switching centers which cover assigned regional territories, for example.
Furthermore, it is known that switching bottlenecks may occur if a switching center that is part of the own network, for instance, has insufficient switching capacity; that—once again with reference to the telephone network—a dialed connection cannot be established or a desired service not offered since the particular switching center has exhausted its capacity.
Insufficient switching capacity may arise under a variety of circumstances. On New Year's Eve, for instance, it may happen that millions of people attempt to reach their friends and relatives at the stroke of midnight to convey best wishes for the new year. Due to this increased simultaneous telecommunications demand the dialed call party or a service can frequently not be reached for lack of sufficient switching capacity, and only a busy signal or a some corresponding announcement will be heard.
Increased telecommunications demand may also come about in other conceivable situations, such as in general around holidays, with media events that call for participation via the phone, or else also in dangerous situations such as in emergencies when a large number of people tries to reach emergency assistance providers or relatives at the same time or when a large group of people is to be notified, for instance in the case of major fires or accidents.